William J.

Haydon
11/12/14
College Fraternities: A Culture of Brotherhood
Topic: Defining College Fraternities in a positive light.
Artifact: Clip from Neighbors
Thesis: College fraternities are sometimes unfairly branded as a culture of nothing but hazing,
partying, and bad behavior when in actuality fraternities are important installments in college
campuses and offer positive benefits the campus, community, and country.

I.

Introduction
a. Main Points
i. What are College Fraternities defined as today?
b. Completed Introduction
Ill be talking today a little bit about college fraternities and the perceptions versus the
realities that apply to them. Like many groups and organizations within modern-day
America, college fraternities are shaped largely by stereotypes formed by media and the
ill-formed opinion of the public. This is not to classify a large sector of the country as
stupid or uneducated by any means, but simply to say that most Americans are
misinformed and subject to unfair and biased news coverage of college fraternities. More
and more often in America today, we see clear-cut examples of willful targeting of
specific groups of people based upon exaggerated stereotypes. This is, unfortunately,
especially true when if comes to college fraternities. Throughout my inquiry into culture
of the college fraternity I found inconsistencies in the perception of the organizations as
opposed to the reality of the organizations. College fraternities are sometimes unfairly
branded as a culture of nothing but hazing, partying, and bad behavior when in actuality
fraternities are important installments in college campuses and offer positive benefits the
campus, community, and country.

Transition: Lets first look at the perception of parties within fraternities versus the reality.
II.

First Point: The secret mission of the college party.

a. William Hageman states in his article, Embracing the Greek life. Or not., One of
the traditional selling points for Greek life is the connections one can make, not
just with current chapter members, but with the network of former fraternity or
sorority members in the business world.

William J. Haydon
11/12/14
i. Examples of successful people in fraternities: Bill Cosby, Harrison Ford,
Stephen Speilberg, wall street execs. etc.
Transition: Next, lets look at the downside of college fraternities: Hazing.
III.

Second Point: What do actual members of fraternities say about hazing?

a. Nick Nash
i. Hazing is a serious problem and is something that should be condemned,
and something that should be ended right now. But what people have to
understand is that fraternities, some, are very old, and very rooted in their
history and as a part of their history, people have to do certain things.
Back when they were founded, maybe people didnt think these were as
bad, but in todays age, they have a very negative effect on human beings
confidence, attitude, and mental health. So I think we have to be
progressive and change some things. A fraternity is all about earning
respect, not about getting respect. Because you have to show that you are
one of the brothers and so I dont believe its good to beat anybody up or
deprive them of food for a week or, you know, having a kid drink till he
blacks out and possibly die. These are just
b. Tyler Thomas
ii.
I have not been hazed. I do not think I will be hazed in the future.
Clearly a guarded answer, I realized I wasnt going to get much more out
of him in that regard so I decided to switch gear and question whether or
not he would be willing to initiate a pledge by means of hazing. To that
Thomas responded, No. So I pushed further, asking if he believes that
hazing is part of the fraternity tradition, to which he responded, Some
fraternities, yes, but not ours. Inquiring whether or not he believes that
tradition is important, Thomas admitted, Yes it is [but hazing] is not
part of our tradition.
c. Discuss the BS

Transition: Finally, lets address the issue of the perception of bad behavior.
IV.

What counters the bad behavior reported on college fraternities and why dont we hear
about it that often?
a. Douglas Belkin says in his article, College Fraternities Drawing More Scrutiny,
Still, fraternities remain wary of the pendulum swinging too far. You hear a lot
about drinking, but no one talks about the fraternity brothers staying up until 3 in
the morning to tutor each other," Mr. Kuhn said.
b. Nick Nash: Im from a family of four, and I have a sister thats five years older
than me, so Ive never had a brother before. Ive had close friends and guys that I

William J. Haydon
11/12/14

V.

would do anything for in high school but Im really excited to be in a room where
I can say, all these guys have my back, they are truly my brothers.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the over arching theme of a college fraternity, if you havent realized by
now, is family. The unique dynamic of a group of people who live and dwell in the
confines of close quarters, who laugh and cry together, who give each other a hard time,
who pick each other up when theyre feeling down This is the true picture of a college
fraternity, not the graffiti sprayed on the screens of television across the nation by news
stations hoping to boost ratings and incite disdain. If you dont have a large family, you
will find that that can easily change within the ranks of a college fraternity: a true culture
of brotherhood.